Bustle



(No Model.)

G. o. SCHNELLBR.

BUSTLB.

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iiNiTnD STATES PATENT trice..

GEORGE O. SCHNELLER, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

BUSTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,689, dated November 22, 1.887,

Application filed Sel tember 1D, 1887. Serial No. 250.065. (No model.)

To LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. SCHNELLEP., of Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new lmprovement in Bustles; and l do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure l, a front view ofthe bustle complete; Fig. 2, aside view of the same; Fig. 3, a verticai section looking toward one side of the bustie; Fig. 4, a horizontal section looking down upon the pivot-wire and lower bow; Fig. 5, a moditication showing a second arrangement of the springs; Fig. 6, aside view showing modification in the arrangement ofthe bows.

This invention'rclates to an improvement in that class of bustles which consist of a bodybow of inverted-U shape, and which is provided with a band at its upper end by which to secure it to the body, and to the lower end of which a similar U shaped bow is hung by a pivot through the corresponding ends ot' the two bows,with intermediate bows also pivoted to the body-bow, and so that the several bows may be collapsed toward the body-bows, and in which a spring is provided, the tendency of which is to expand the bows, which yield for the contraction of the bustle.

As usually constructed, the pivot upon which the bows turn is formed by a .rivet extending through cyelet-holes in the respective ends of the several bows, the rivet headed upon the outer surface of the body-bow and upon the inner surface 0f the lower bow; but owing to the fact that the intermediate bows are usually arranged upon this pivot, making several separate bows upon the same pivot, and consequently a pivot of considerable length, it is with such a pivot impractical to make a iirm joint. The result is that the pivot is liable to cramp in the several bows and seriously interfere with the proper working of the bows in collapsing and expanding.

The object of my invention is to overcome this difficulty; and it consists in forming the pivot of a wire which extends through the bows at both ends and across the bustle, its

ends turned onto the outer bow and secured thereto so as to hold the pivot-wire firmly engaged with the outer bow, as more fully hereinafter described.

In the illustration, A represents the bodybow, which is preferably of U shape, and so as to rest against the body. At the upper side of the bow the usual strap, B, is attached, by which the bustle may be secured to the body.

C represents the lower bow, and D the intermediate bows, three such intermediate hows being represented.

The several bows are of U shape, and the ends of the several bows are pierced and provided with an eyelet, as represented in Fig. l. These eyelets are to form the pivot-bearings for the several bows. The respective ends of the several bows are brought together, and through .the holes in the ends of the several bows a wire, E, extends, this wire being of a length greater than the width of the bustle and-so as to extend from side to side through the respective ends of the several bows, Upon the outside the ends F of the wire are turned upward onto the body-bow-that is, the outside bow,whether it be the body-bow or either of the other bows-and each end is secured by a clip, a, to thc body-bow, so aste firmly secure the pivot-wire to the bow. This wire, being supported at both ends ofthe bustle, is :firm and rigid, and the several bows turn thereon with perfect freedom without possibility of cramping, as must be the case in the use of the shortpivots through several bows. This pivot-wire avoids the usual strap which must be applied to connect the two ends and prevent the bows from spreading, and which strap has a tendency to twist the body-bow. because it necessarily draws over its inner end. The pivotwire secured as I have described, on the contrary, serves to sustain the bow in its proper normal position.

In this class of bustles springs are necessary in order to permit collapse and force the eX- pansion or opening of the bustle. The best spring for this class of hustles consists of two wires, lO,substantially parallel with thepivotwire and preferably lying close toit, as represented in Figs. l and 4. One end, L, of one wire-vsay I-is turned at right angles onto the IOO inside of the lower bow, C, as seen in Fig. 4, and is there secured by a clip or otherwise.v The other end of the sainewire is turned npward at right angles onto the inside ofthe body-bow, as represented in Fig. l. The ends of the otherwire, O, are in like manner the one at right angles and secured to the lower how and the other upward at substantially right angles and secured to the body bow. rlhe two arms of each wire diverge from each other, and both arms, being held firmly, cause the wire to twist as the bustle collapses. The twist or torsion which is thus put into the wirel serves as the spring to throw the bustle into its expanded condition.

To hold the two wires I O in their proper relation to each other, an eye, M, is formed at each angle of one wire, and the other wire passes through the eyes, and these eyes are arranged in line with the pivot and so that the pivot-wire passes through the respective eyes of the spring. Thus the two wires which form the torsion -spring are held in their proper relation, not only to each other but to the pivotwire, and so that the torsion or twist ofthe spring comes substantially at the axis lupon which the bows turn in collapsing.

The spring, however, may beapplied as seen in Fig. 5: In this ease the two wires are set into the bustle distant from the pivot; but the wires are formed in substantially the saine manner as shown. The ends of the respective springs extend through the bodybow and are'connected, respectively, to the body-bow and to the lower bow, but 'by pivotconnections, as represented, and so that as the bustle collapses the pivot ends of the spring approach each other and produce the torsion. This illustration shows the application of the saine spring to a bustle having the pivot-wire; but the rfirst-described arrangement of thespring is preferred.

The peculiar construction ot' spring which I have herein illustrated, broadly considered, is shown in an application tiled in even date herewith,the serial number ot' which is 250, 064. No claim is therefore made, broadly, upon the spring in this application.

In some classes of bustles the bows intermediate between the body-bow and the lower Abow are pivoted to the body-bow at different points, as represented in Fig. 6. In this case the principal pivotal point is between the lower bow and the body-bow. In this arrangement of bows the wire is applied in the same inanner as illustrated and forms ,the support and turning-point forthe principal bow,l

the same as when all the bows are pivoted at a common center, as before described. More or lcss of the intermediate bows may therefore be pi'voted to the body-bow at dili'erent points and the remainder pivoted upon the same center as the lower bow. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limited to any particular arrangement of bows, further than that the pivotal wire shall be arranged through the ends of the principal bows.

I claiml. A bustle composed of a body-bow forming` two sides, a principal or lower bow, the` ends of which and the lower ends of the bodybow are pierced alike, a wire across the bustle and extending through thepiereed ends ofthe said bows to form the pivot, the-said wire secured .at both ends to the outer bow, the said bustle provided lwith pivot-bows between the said lower bow and the body-bow,substantially as described.

2. A bustle composed of several Ushaped bows, their respective ends pierced to lform pivot-holes upon which the said bows may turn, a wire across the bustle and extending through the pierced ends of the said -several bows at both sides to form the pivot upon which the bows inay turn, the said wire secured at both ends to the outer bow, substantially as described.

3. A bustle composed of a body-bow forniing two sides, a principal or lower bow, the ends of which and the lower ends ofthe bodybow are pierced alike, a wire across the bustle and extending through the pierced ends of the said bows to form the pivot, the said wiresecured at both ends to the'outer bow, the said bustle provided with pivot-bows between the said lower bow and the body-bow, a spring composed of two wires substantially parallel with thesaid pivot-wire and within the bustle, each ot' said wires turned at substantially right anglesat opposite ends, the said opposite ends secured to the respective sides of the lower bow,and the said two wires' at their otherends turned at right angles, the said other ends secured, respectively, to the corresponding sides of the body bow, one of said wires having an eye formed at each of 'its angles, the other of saidl wires extending through the said eyes of thev one wire, and the pivot-wire also extending through the said eyes, substantially as described. GEORGE O. SCHNELLER. Vitnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELsEY.

ICO 

